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Original Date: 06/05/2006
Revision Date: / /
Best Practice : Safety Performance Assessment and Planning Program
The Safety Performance Assessment and Planning Program at Rockwell Collins uses a systematic approach for evaluating and measuring processes, identifying the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and ensuring continuous improvement of its safety and health program. The assessment data points were modeled after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program, a well-established industry best practice. The safety business plan developed at the conclusion of an assessment ensures accountability and sustainability for the company to maintain an efficient safety program that has seen significant reductions in total occupational injury and illness case rates, lost workday case rates, lost workday rates, workers’ compensation costs, and workers’ compensation claims.
Prior to 2000, Rockwell Collins used occupational injury and illness rates to determine whether its safety and health programs were successful. Company leadership accepted this method as an accurate means for determining the worth of its safety and health programs. From 1993 to 2000, Rockwell Collins demonstrated strong and continuous improvement with its injury and illness metrics. However, the improvements ended when injury and illness rates pleateaued, resulting in stagnant metrics and a need to develop a plan that would achieve continuous improvement for the company’s safety and health program.
To measure the success of its safety and health program success, Rockwell Collins established five goals:
Implementing a new method of assessing the strength and quality of its program
Providing measurable results
Developing action plans for improvement; monitor progress
Monitoring progress
Evaluating continual improvement
To achieve the designated goals, Rockwell Collins developed the Safety Performance Assessment and Planning Program modeled after the Occuptional Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program. The program measures six key elements within the company’s safety and health programs that include management commitment, worksite analysis, safety and health training, employee involvement, hazard prevention and control, and program evaluation. Each key element contains 3 to 5 subcategories. These key elements are evaluated using a 0 to 5 rating based on framework, deployment, and results. A score of zero indicates that the point being evaluated has ineffective framework, deployment and results. A score of 5 indicates the point being evaluated has a well- defined framework, consistent deployment, and exceptional results. A safety team comprised of 50% management and 50% employees from each site perform the evaluations. The assessment is accomplished by using an Excel spreadsheet that tabulates the scores given to each of the current 107 data points to be evaluated. Based on scores input by the safety teams, the spreadsheet generates a percentage that is a measurement of how effectively each data point and category is being implemented.
Each safety team conducts a current-state safety performance assessment and a future-state safety performance assessment on a yearly basis. The current state is an evaluation of the past year; the future state consists of the improvement goals that need to be made. Using the safety performance assessment spreadsheet as a guide, a safety business plan is developed to remedy each low-scoring data point. Rockwell Collins uses a safety business plan consultant, which is a compilation of solutions to low-scoring data points that employees can access via the Employee Safety and Health Web site. The Safety Business Plan is placed into Microsoft Project and assigned a number, the action to be taken, the responsible person(s), date completed, and frequency. Using this database ensures accountability and continuous improvement for the safety and health program. The Safety Business Plan is reviewed quarterly with site leadership and presented to the company’s senior leadership.
The benefits provided by implementing the Safety Performance Assessment and Planning Program include the development of measurable processes, identified program strengths and areas for improvement, the development of the Safety Business Plan designed to improve safety performance, and evaluation of progress to ensure continuous improvements. The implementation of this program has enabled Rockwell Collins to realize a 40% increase in its safety performance rate, a 43% reduction in total occupational injury and illness case rates per 100 employees, a 56% reduction in lost workday case rates per 100 employees, a 48% reduction in lost workday rates per 100 employees, an 87% reduction in workers’ compensation costs, and a 51% reduction in workers’ compensation claims.
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